CHICAGO: US President Donald Trump has again said he will not wear a face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic, even as First Lady Melania Trump advises Americans that they should do so.
Trump said that wearing a face mask was a recommendation and not mandatory to prevent a coronavirus infection.
“Well, I just don’t want to wear one myself. It’s a recommendation; they recommend it. I’m feeling good. I just don’t want to be doing — I don’t know, somehow sitting in the Oval Office behind that beautiful Resolute desk — the great Resolute desk — I think wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens, I don’t know,” Trump told reporters who sat a few feet apart in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House.
“Somehow, I don’t see it for myself. I just — I just don’t. Maybe I’ll change my mind, but this will pass and hopefully it’ll pass very quickly.”
Trump said that he was not discouraging others from wearing face masks, including those Americans making masks themselves using common household items such as a cloth and rubber bands.
After Melania Trump advised Americans to wear face masks and practice social distancing on Sunday, Trump shrugged at his daily press conference and said that it was still just a recommendation.
The first lady tweeted on Sunday: “I ask that everyone take social distancing & wearing a mask/face covering seriously. #COVID19 is a virus that can spread to anyone.”
Melania Trump accompanied the tweet by sharing one issued by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), which said: “Take action to slow the spread of #COVID19 by wearing a cloth face covering in public spaces, keeping at least 6 feet of physical distance, & frequently washing your hands. Make a cloth face covering from a t-shirt, scarf or cloth napkin.”
The first lady’s support for face masks prompted reporters to ask the president on Sunday whether he had changed his mind. Trump has repeatedly said wearing a face mask is a choice but that he chooses not to wear one.
“I would wear one. I just generally — would you like me to wear one right now? That would be a little awkward I guess, but again, I would wear one if I thought it was important,” the president chided reporters.
“She (Melania Trump) likes the idea of wearing it. She does. A lot of people do. Again, it’s a recommendation and I understand that recommendation and I’m OK with it.”
Johns Hopkins University reported on Monday that the total number of COVID-19 infections had exceeded 1.289 million with 70,590 deaths.
According to the medical center’s COVID-19 monitoring, the US has the highest number of coronavirus infections — 337,971 — with nearly 10,000 deaths.
